


Hand Sensitivity

by T_Mina



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Accidental Kissing, Bones POV, Bones is So Done, Bones knows, But like... Spock's doing it on purpose, Casually Xenophobic Leonard McCoy, Improper Use of Ozh'esta, Intervention, M/M, Pre-Slash, References to Dubcon Vulcan Kissing, Third Person POV, Vulcan Hand Sensitivity, Vulcan Kisses, no beta we die like men, of sorts, outsider pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23493724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/T_Mina/pseuds/T_Mina
Summary: Leonard McCoy cannot stand to watch Jim touch Spock's hands when the poor sap has no idea what it means.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock
Comments: 38
Kudos: 376





	Hand Sensitivity

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first foray into writing for the Star Trek fandom, and of course it's about vulcans and hands, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Leonard McCoy sighed. “Spock, when are you going to tell Jim about Vulcan hand sensitivity?”

Spock, who had come to the doctor’s office to drop off a data chip, froze in place, chip still in hand. Then he stared, hard, at the far back wall, behind McCoy’s desk. And was infuriatingly silent. 

Leonard crossed his arms over his chest. “You _were_ planning on telling him sometime, weren’t you?”

He really didn’t want to have this conversation with Spock. And Spock appeared to not want it either. His lips were tight. His eyes were fixed on the wall behind Leonard. And his back was even stiffer than normal—and that was saying something, since it usually gave a ruler a run for its money.

But _something_ had to be done. It was getting ridiculous. Leonard was tired of watching Jim rub his hands all over the poor Vulcan. Especially when he knew—even with only a rudimentary understanding of Vulcan biology—exactly what kind of physiological responses that was causing Spock.

“Spock?” Leonard prompted, after a solid minute of silence.

“If I tell the captain about the sensitivity of my hands, he may stop touching them,” Spock finally said, in a quiet, measured voice. “And I would find that to be a most undesirable state of affairs.”

Leonard’s eyebrows both shot up in unison. “You _want_ him to hand-make-out with you?”

Spock avoided the doctor’s gaze. “I find it eminently satisfactory,” he whispered toward the floor.

“Oh, for crying out loud, Spock!” Leonard shouted, wincing in disgust. 

He thought watching Jim unknowingly molest Spock was bad enough. But learning Spock _wanted_ him too? That was even worse. _Infinitely_ worse.

Spock looked up from the floor. Leonard felt a chill down his spine as those alien eyes locked onto his. Spock had a pretty intense stare. Especially when he was trying to make a point. 

“This fact should not surprise you, Doctor, given my stated opinion of the captain,” Spock said at his normal volume, and utterly without emotion.

“ _Opinion_ ,” Leonard scoffed at the overgrown computer’s word choice. “You’re in _love_.”

Spock did not comment. But Leonard knew his silence in this instance was as good as a yes.

And there was also the little-known fact that Spock had basically confessed as much several months prior. Well, not so much confessed as Leonard had wrung the truth out of him one day. He had been pestering the insufferable Vulcan for months about why he stayed so long in sickbay whenever Jim was injured and rarely, if ever, visited any other members of the crew when they were harmed. And finally, one time while Jim was in a coma, and Spock was keeping vigil at his bedside, Spock had said…

“ _It is not logical. But the regard I have for Jim surpasses merely his function aboard this ship. If he is harmed, I am unwell. When he is healthy and content, so too, am I. Thus, you see, his wellbeing is essential to me. More essential than anything else in this universe.”_

It had been a shocking revelation, to say the least. A _Vulcan_ in love? And that _was_ what it was, Leonard was sure of it, even if Spock was unwilling to say the exact words.

But it made a lot of Spock’s behaviors that Leonard had once thought were strangely illogical for a Vulcan suddenly make a lot more sense. There was no rational reason for Spock to throw himself in front of every dangerous thing that might hurt his captain. Despite his repeated insistence to the contrary, Spock was just as integral to the operation of this ship as Jim was.

But for Spock to be willing to die to save the man he loved? Yeah… that made sense.

“But that’s no excuse,” Leonard went on, frowning. “Love or not, what you’re doing—letting Jim put his hands all over you without knowing what he’s doing—isn’t fair to Jim, you know. You don’t know how he feels. And _I_ wouldn’t want to accidentally inspire those sorts of feelings in you.”

Something Leonard highly suspected was _disgust_ flashed across the pointy-eared pain in the neck’s face for a split-second, before he buried it under that Vulcan mask of his.

“Unless they were in need of medical attention, I would not permit you to touch my hands, Doctor,” Spock stated firmly.

“Well of course not!” Leonard roared, equally disturbed by the idea. He’d rather die a slow, painful death than Vulcan-hand-make-out with Spock. “But what I mean is,” he said, forcing himself to calm down slightly, “Jim’s consent matters, too. Even if it’s just kissing. And even if it’s one-sided.”

Spock seemed to consider that for a moment. But, to Leonard’s extreme consternation, he did not concede.

“Consider if our situations were reversed,” Spock posed. “If the person you had affections for, and the rest of the entire crew belonged to an alien race which exchanged kisses as a form of casual greeting, would you not be tempted to allow it to occur, once and a while, between you and the object of your affections?”

Leonard tried to give the strange scenario Spock had outlined some serious thought. He’d seen weirder things in space, after all, than a humanoid species who exchanged casual greetings through kissing.

He pictured it for a few seconds. Not _love,_ because he’d basically sworn that off, after too much heartbreak. But a hot alien woman who thought absolutely nothing of pulling Leonard close and ramming her tongue down his throat.

And he was forced to concede, rather quickly, that Spock had a point. Leonard might not exactly be forthcoming in such a situation either.

“I guess maybe I see your point,” Leonard conceded with a sigh. “But still, Spock. You should just tell Jim how you feel. It’ll be a hell of a lot easier than settling for scraps.”

If Spock really did love Jim—and that was a wild concept Leonard was still trying to wrap his head around—then why not say something? Leonard thought that was the _logical_ thing to do. Even if he hated using that word.

Spock, however, disagreed. “If I am rejected, the captain may also cease touching me.”

“Spock, that’s a risk you have got to take!” Leonard shouted.

He _really_ hated to say it. He did _not_ get paid enough to be a walking computer’s relationship therapist. But he was adamant that Spock couldn’t just keep mooning over Jim from a distance and stealing kisses, unbeknownst to the other party. It was unethical. And more importantly, there was a pretty high chance, in his mind, that Jim—the fool—would be open to reciprocation if he knew the truth. 

Leonard couldn’t say anything for sure. His friend could be oddly tight-lipped about things that were really important to him. But Leonard knew Jim wasn’t straight, no matter how many women he’d charmed. And he knew those two idiots had _something_ for each other that wasn’t just the usual, manly comradery of the crew. Something that could, with the right coaxing, maybe even turn into a vomit-inducingly cute romance. 

But Spock, as usual, was being infuriating. 

“Negative,” he replied simply. 

Spock set down the data chip he’d been holding on Leonard’s desk. Then turned on his heel and walked toward the office’s exit. 

“Spock!” Leonard cried, running after him. “You get back here this instant!”

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me about Spirk or just Star Trek in general on my tumblr: https://sporkandpringles.tumblr.com/


End file.
